Chapter 10: Scenes of the Dark

June (Trigger warning for depression, suicidality)

The feeling of depression radiated off the canvas, leaping at you, screaming for help.

It was a kid sitting in the middle of a room.

A dark room.

The only light was a lightbulb hanging above his head, shining on his back as he huddled in a ball, knees pulled to his chest and his head buried, seemingly hiding away from those looking at the painting. Words were etched into the wall, panicked and uneven.

"I'm sorry."

"Please forgive me."

I shuddered as I moved the light closer; the pitch-black outer edges of the painting were even more unsettling. Faces. Lots of them. But they didn't seem human. No, they had the illusion that their flesh was rotting, melting off their faces contorted in pain. They seemed like they were yelling. Yelling for someone to hear them, to realize they were slowly dying, disappearing from the person they used to be.

It was so unsettling that I felt it was my fault, my pain. I put it down, looking at another canvas lying under it. Again it was a dark room, but this time the only thing shown by the single light was a noose and a stool. There wasn't anyone there, only those two things, but again I felt the agony of the painter.

The painter.

I turned it over. June S

I thought about the diary entries I had read that night, how my mom told him to die. How she was ignoring him, how she turned everyone against him. How she was slowly destroying him.

"June? June, where are you? June?" I knew it was Hue calling me, but I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe. The only thing I could do was feel tears run down my face.

I can't breathe.

I heard Hue coming closer.

"June?" He was in the room now. "Where are you? Calm down. I'm here, so stop hyperventilating. You'll hurt yourself. God damn it, where are you, June. Seriously where did you go." He couldn't see the hole behind the boxes. Even if he did, he was bigger than me. He would never be able to get in. I managed to whisper, "I'm okay," as I ran out of air but Hue didn't hear me. I felt tired. His voice had disappeared, so it was only the sound of my shallow, struggling breaths.

The world started to go black.

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Hue

After school, I went to the gym as always for a scrimmage game. June sat in the spot he had found yesterday. Thirty minutes in, I noticed June wasn't there anymore. Thinking that he probably went home, I continued. After another forty-five minutes, the game was over and I called my mom to tell her I was on my way home.

"Hue! I suppose that the games over? You guys hurry home then; dinner is ready."

"Isn't June home with you? He left a little over an hour ago. He should be home by now."

"No, I didn't see him come in. Hold on. I'll check his room." A long minute passed before she picked up again. "Nope, he isn't here. I'm sure he just went to check out the school. He couldn't have gone far. Look for him real quick and get back." I was worrying too much, but I couldn't help but be annoyed by the happiness in her voice.

"Okay, bye then."

I asked some girls if they had seen where June had gone.

"I last saw him going up the stairs, but I can't imagine he's looking at the classrooms. He's probably in the club rooms on the third floor. Why? You're too good-looking for him-"

"Thanks." I ran off.

It reassured me that I knew where he was, but why would he be up there for so long? I gathered my stuff in my bag and walked up the stairs to the third floor.

"June? June, where are you? June?" I started towards the band room but as I walked up, I heard somebody crying. Not only crying but hyperventilating, to the point where I was concerned in they were dying. I wasn't sure if the voice was Junes or which room it was coming from, so I quickly checked the band room. It was wide open, yet I saw nobody. I ran into the art room and still saw nothing. I was sure it was coming from the art room now.

"June? Where are you? Calm down." As the breathing rapidly got faster, I was scared they would seriously hurt themselves. I was sure I had looked at all the places in that room he could have been but still, I saw nothing. One of the corners hadn't been touched; the dust showed no signs that anyone had been over there in years. He couldn't have been there.

He's in this room but where?

"Seriously, where did you go?" I was panicking now. In my search, I heard his breath gradually stop.

"June? No. No you can't. Please stay awake." I yelled his name, hoping to keep him awake but instead I only heard the sound of his head hitting the ground.

I was terrified

Almost everyone had left at that point. As I was running, I bumped into a girl I recognized; she was the art club leader.

"Please, you need to help me. The art room. The art room. I can't find. Place." I was so out of breath I could barely get words out.

"Hue? Calm down and talk to me. What about the art room? What cant you find?"

"Their someone in there. They need help. They were hyperventilating and crying, but I couldn't find them. They weren't anywhere in the room, but I know it was coming from there-"

"Slow down. I can't even understand you. So someone's crying in the art room? And you can't find them?" She was annoyed. "Maybe they aren't in the art room then? Their just crying. They will be fine. I'm going to go now-"

"Wait," I grabbed her arm, "I'm not exactly sure who it is, but it might be that new kid." She was listening now.

"June? The one from the cottage?" Her face ran pale. She swallowed nervously.

"The one," she leaned in, "the one they say is the child of you know?" I nodded.

"Why? Why does it matter? He passed out. Would you listen to me? Ple-"

"He PASSED OUT? WHY ISNT THAT THE FIRST THING YOU TOLD ME?"

She grabbed my hand and we raced up the stairs. When we got to the room, it was still quiet; and there was still no sign of June.

"You said you looked everywhere?" It seemed like she needed me to be sure.

"Answer. You looked everywhere you possibly could?"

"Yes. Yes, I did. Except for that corner because it looks like nobody has been back there-"

She looked at me.

"You didn't look? God damn it."

She rushed over, shoving boxes out of the way. There was a hole in the shelf that before I couldn't see.

"I need a light. Quickly."

I also ran over, giving her my phone.

"I think I can fit. We are about the same size."

As she started to crawl in, she paused.

"Hue. Listen to me." She pulled her head out.

"You need to call 911. Don't panic. Please don't panic." My heart dropped as she handed me my phone. I quickly dialed 911. The girl climbed back in, pulling out a phone with its flashlight already on.

"You... do you know this phone? I can't get a good look at them." It was the phone I had given to June.

"Yes." My voice broke into a million pieces.

"It's Junes."

"Oh god," she said as if everything had just come crashing down all in one second. I was on the phone with the dispatcher as she stared at me, fear and tears in her eyes.

"Yes, the third floor." I put down the phone.

"What. Why are you looking at me like that?"

She stared, tears streaming down her face.

"What? Tell me, you have to tell me."

"Nobody goes back there. Ever."

"Why? I didn't even know it existed."

"Not a lot of people do, only the club. It's a sworn promise when you enter the club that you never speak of it, never approach this corner or even touch anything over here. Most of the members don't know why because they don't know the room is there. We don't tell them, and they don't ask."

"Why? What is in there?" I asked again.

"I'm sure you know who June Sekins is. His art was put back there, left at the request of the teachers."

"No.." It was my fault. If I had told him before, this wouldn't have happened. She saw my face drain of color.

"I won't ask you now, we'll talk later." I nodded.

"We should get him out. They won't be able to get him easily" The hole was at least big enough for us to pull him back out, so I grabbed his arm, dragging him out carefully so that he didn't hit anything. Once the top half of his body was out, I picked him up and moved him to the hall. It scared me how his body was limp. A million thoughts ran through my head. He looked like he was dead. I knew he wasn't, but the fear gripped me. I felt as if I were falling. Once he was out, the girl quickly moved the boxes back, hiding the room again.

All I could do was look at his face; I couldn't even imagine what was back there to make him react like that, but whatever it was, I knew there was no more keeping secrets.